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“You are going to retrieve an object essential to the safety of the kingdom. You will locate it and then you will bring it back to me. It is a vital task, Morgan. One I would trust only to a few.”
“The safety of the kingdom...” I took a breath. “I don’t understand. Does that mean the kingdom is in jeopardy of some sort?”
He smiled slightly. “You’re not an unintelligent person, Morgan. Surely you must be aware of peoples' recent complaints.”
I looked at him with confusion. “The food shortages? But you said...”
He raised a hand to silence me. “I know what I said. I am telling you now, there is a shortage–and there isn’t.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head stubbornly.
“For the past six months now, a portion of the kingdom’s food supplies have been diverted away from Camelot.”
“By whom? Why?”
“By whom? By me, of course,” Arthur replied. “And as for why. Well, you always enjoyed our history lessons. Tell me, why would a king divert essential supplies away from his people?”
“Only for good reason, I presume,” I said slowly. “To prepare for something. A famine. A blight. To store food for years of bad harvest. A wise ruler prepares for such things.”
Arthur had never seemed like the kind of king who would act so strategically to protect his subjects, but could I have misjudged him at least in part?
He nodded. “True. But think harder. What else?”
My eyes widened. “To prepare for a war. You are planning to go to war, Brother?”
“Not planning,” Arthur answered, his voice sharp. “Not planning to start a war. But preparing for war–a war which seems more inevitable every day–yes, I am doing that.”
“You believe we will be attacked then? By another kingdom?” I wracked my brain. “But by who? Which one? Surely not Lyonesse.”
Arthur’s lips twisted in disdain. “Certainly not Lyonesse. They are a wealthy kingdom, but weak. They depend on us to protect them. Lyonesse is an excellent ally, but not a kingdom to fear. No, try again.”
“Tintagel lies to the northeast.” But Tintagel was a small kingdom that bordered the great ocean to the east. It was a rugged, windswept land of proud seafaring people. But it was poor. I doubted Tintagel had the capacity to take on Pendrath. “But Tintagel is too small, too impoverished to gain anything by starting a war with Pendrath.”
Arthur nodded, gesturing for me to continue.
“Cerunnos lies to the south west of Pendrath,” I went on. But while Pendrath was a fertile kingdom with rolling hills, rich forests, and bounteous rivers, Cerunnos was said to be a perilous and primal place. A rugged, untamed wilderness of ancient greenwoods, towering mountains, and treacherous bogs.
I frowned. “The people of Cerunnos are said to be fierce and wild, so it is possible they might turn aggressive on their neighbors. But historically, the kingdom has a reputation for isolation not outright aggression.”
I saw a glint in Arthur’s eyes and for a moment thought I had hit the mark. Then he shook his head. “Not Cerunnos.”
“We rarely see travelers from anywhere but Lyonesse, Tintagel, and...” I stopped. “A few from Rheged.”
Arthur tilted his head to one side but said nothing.
Rheged lay to the northwest of Pendrath. Far from the sea, Rheged was said to be rough but beautiful. Famed for its rugged peaks, icy glaciers, and deep, narrow valleys, Rheged was inhospitable but not uninhabited. In fact, it had been one of our primary trading partners for generations. The kingdom boasted rich mineral resources which made it a prosperous kingdom.
Rheged also boasted a haughty, powerful warrior people who had a long history of conquest and expansion across the continent.
“You believe Rheged threatens Pendrath?” I asked cautiously.
“I have reason to believe that, yes,” Arthur said. “For some time, we have been investigating that possibility. Recently we have begun to take steps to prepare ourselves in the event of an invasion.”
“We” meant he and Agravaine, I assumed.
“I see. That seems very wise.”
Arthur smiled slightly. “You sound almost surprised, Sister.”
